Geocaching: An Addiction?

In the past I have made the call as to whether I am addicted to something or not by if I can't fall asleep because it is on my mind repeatedly. I am not quite at that point... but I may get there soon with this geocaching thing.

The first one we found was on the way back from a family reunion. It was a challenge. Luckily, there were some fellow geocachers who were also on the hunt and gave us a hand. They were more experienced and we were just digging through a pile of rocks. (If you've ever been to Frank Slide... no further explanation required).

If you don't know what geocaching is, it's a GPS-oriented "game" where other geocachers hide a "cache" (usually a camouflaged tupperware or hide-a-key) and log the coordinates online for others to find. Depending on the size of the cache, there are sometimes little trinkets to trade or geocoins to pass along to the next cache.

Since the first find, I have marked code down. Many a battery has been drained from my iPhone as the GPS and compass features have been utilized. Everywhere I go, they're around! In a way it's exciting, but at the same time overwhelming!

It also doesn't help that I'm not extremely good at it. Especially this last round at them, it was so frustrating. It didn't help that the entire province is under snow, but even some of the ones designated as winter friendly gave us a bit of trouble. Of the nine I have attempted since arriving in Calgary, I have found two. Never the less, they are fun and adventurous. I saw some country that I wouldn't have seen otherwise.

I will share one such adventure with you. On the way back to Calgary from our Christmasing, there was one just off Hwy 1 on the west side of Chestermere. We pulled over (in the dark) and walked along a snow covered road to an inch of wood sticking up. I thought it may be hidden underneath, so we started digging. Then I fell through the snow up to above my knees. We kept digging. Spencer fell through too. Keep in mind, it's dark and we're holding flashlights, digging at the snow along a highway. I'm sure people thought we were burring a body or something (that's the one thing I don't like about this sport when done in public- it makes you look suspicious, like you're making a drug trade or something). Eventually we gave up and got back in the warm car. When I got home, not only did I look up a picture of the location and realize that tree stump is the hight of a small child, but I realized there were two winter friendly caches just meters away. *Sigh* :) It just means I'll have to go back...

People also create ridiculous challenges that are so inspiring I think I may just try one. Like the Texas County Challenge. The goal is to find one cache in each of the 256 Texas counties. It will make for quite a road-trip, but that's what summer vacations are for. And years and years of caching. There are people out there with 3000+ finds though. They must have such good eyes, or an incredible amount of perseverance!

"Home" Is Where... the Bills Go

I'm going home to Calgary tomorrow morning!

It's just sort of weird though. I only lived in Calgary for about 18 months, and I have been there about two months total this whole year. It doesn't really feel like home. Except my mom and sister are there of course. And my puppies. I am excited to see them all.

Exams have gone decently. I suppose I'm writing this sort of depressed, because if you had asked me yesterday, I would have said they have gone incredibly, but Calculus sort of did me in today, and I'm still recovering. This break will be good, but it's sort of started on a sour note, compared to if it had begun yesterday. Maybe once I get my grades back it'll look rosier.

I was talking to one of my friends about what she wants to get out of the next two weeks. I think my big goal, aside from seeing family, is doing some reading. I feel like I haven't read for a while, which is totally inaccurate. I finished the Numerati this morning, and have been quite consistent about my Bible reading, which always makes me feel more humble and content, so that's good. I just feel like I've done a lot of math and Scripture, so I'm not sure why two of the books I have picked out are about math and Scripture... maybe I'll pick something else up first. Like Jane Austen. Hmmm. :)

I also want to come up with some sort of detailed itinerary for "THE Road Trip." It was originally concocted in the summer of sixth grade, and I feel that in order to get a little more support, both from parents and potential co-trippers, it needs a little more structure. And maybe my marathon trip that I dream of is a little lengthy and I'm oblivious like everyone is secretly thinking. Some planning will help me realize it. So I got the Discovery Channel's United States on the Road book, as well as 1,000 Places To See Before You Die in the USA and Canada. Maybe that will be my fun flight activity for the long day ahead of me tomorrow.

Michael and Evie Get Hitched

Last weekend, I was in Portland, Oregon attending the wedding of my best friend's cousin. It was the second wedding I've been to (that I can remember) and I learned lots about the chaos of wedding activities.

The rehersal luncheon was Friday on Mt. Hood. There was still snow around, which was exciting. Everything tasted lovely and there were some really great toasts. There was family from Alaska, California, Texas, and Alabama present.

There was a little bit of an issue with the flower orders and florist arrangements, so Saturday afternoon, seven other girls and myself learned how to make boutonnieres, corsages, wreaths, bouquets, and table decorations. I must say, they looked awesome. The flowers were daisies (yay!), roses, and lavender.

I got to meet the famous Anna B who I had heard so much about (don't worry, you lived up to your reputation). I roomed with her and the lovely Katie M for the weekend, and we had some great times, involving "legal U-turns," target shopping carts, and late night shopping expititions.

Finally, the day arrived and we rushed off to the church. After a couple detours around downtown, the whole party was there, the men looking handsome in their suits and ladies in their silver dresses. The ceremony was beautiful, and the message was well prepared. Then we went on to the reception and had a great time. I met Alex and Brett Harris, and Alex gave Alex P and Anna B a nice Viennese waltz lesson with his sister (those boys are amazing dancers). There was also a little "Cha-cha Slide" and "Sweet Home Alabama" thrown into the mix.

Overall, the weekend was a success. The happy couple was married, and the families got to spend a lot of time blending and meeting new people. Us girls had a fun time touring and helping with the flowers, and the boys had a fun time getting into trouble. ;) Weddings are fun.

My favorite "Brian" in the world

Daniel getting in touch with his feminine side

Michael and Evie rehearsing

Alex and Anna at the rehearsal luncheon

All Pictures by Daniel Campbell's Camera (so... Daniel and Katie)

The HUB @ Camp Caroline

Our church's college/young married ministry (which I am included in- long story) had a weekend retreat to Camp Caroline, a peaceful multi-acre facility just south of Caroline, Alberta. I went to take a break from the city and rest. I had my Math 31 final Friday morning, and wanted to get away. Once there, I found several friends that I just don't see enough of and we picked out a room (the cozy one above the boiler room) :) . The speaker for the weekend was Steve McCready from Northern Ireland, and he did an amazing job going through the book of Jonah and discussing some of the heart issues that Jonah went through in his transformation. The rest of the time we had to play games, swim, tube down a snowy hill, and go on walks. I wouldn't call it restful (last night, a group of about 18 of us played water polo from about 11:30 PM -1:30 AM and have the bruises to prove it), but it was very relaxing to get outside and be responsible for nothing but myself. I met lots of new friends and got lots of practice with my camera. Here are some pictures from the tubing hill and from a walk around camp. Thank you everyone for a great weekend! :)

Halifax: Trip to Lunenburg

Here's the route for Lunenburg. The yellow arrow, pointing the yellow dot, is Peggy's Cove from the day before. The red dot is Lunenburg, home of the Bluenose, and the green dot is Mahone Bay (the bay, as well as that town, is called "Mahone Bay"). This trip was a bit longer, and involved some extreme map examining (I'm still not sure the exact route we took coming back). We also got to view Lahave, Upper Lahave, Lower Lahave, the Lahave ferry, and Eastern Lahave, all within a thirty minute timespan. They really liked to name towns Lahave.

Anyway, Mahone Bay is a little town, known for the view of its three churches. We stopped at a couple little craft stores, as well as watched a demonstration of pewter crafting. Then, in Lunenburg, we stopped for fish and chips and wandered to the ports. This is where the Bluenose I (and subsequently, Bluenose II) were built. It was in port being winterized, so we caught a glimpse but couldn't get much closer. Mostly, we just explored small towns, which is lots of fun. :)

Halifax: Trip to Peggy's Cove

The map does not do the trip justice, especially since I don't think you can read the names. :) The red line was our route, heading southwest first, and continuing clockwise. One afternoon, we decided to take a trip out to Peggy's Cove. It's about a two hour drive on the route we took. Peggy's Cove is a very tiny town that is known for its lighthouse and big rocks (basically...). The view is supposed to be spectacular if it's clear, which it wasn't. However, it was still fun climbing around on the rocks and avoiding large waves. We also went into the town (which is basically a circle of houses, clustered around the harbor) and walked around the boats. There were TONS of lobster traps. Here are some pictures from that voyage.

Halifax: The City

I've made it back safe from my trip. Halifax is such a unique city. It is still small- less than 400,000 people, and has several universities within its limits. This results in a very young population. At one point, the average age within the city was 28. It's also very Scottish. Some of the older population still has a very strong accent, and all the town names are Scottish. There are also a lot of pubs, and I love pub food, so that was very nice. :) A lot of the jewelry we found had a celtic design. Just little things like that. Overall, I really enjoyed it.

The only downside is the weather. When it was nice out, it was beautiful, but that didn't happen often. It was mostly rainy and foggy. While I like rain and fog, my skin feels gross after a day of humidity. We shall have to figure out a solution to that, because I think that's where I'm headed. :)

The school itself was beautiful. I have decided to go to Dalhousie, which is one of the top schools in Canada. It was actually the first English-speaking University in Canada, founded by looted American money after the War of 1812. :P That will give you an idea of how old the campus is. It's located streets from the ocean, and has an really well-rounded mathematics program. I actually took a calculus class on Friday, and throughouly enjoyed it, as weird as that sounds. The amount of content that was covered is at a good pace for me. Here are some pictures that we took around Halifax itself. The first is the Math and Stats building at the University. The second is inside the Halifax Citidel, the old fort that was built there. The third is by the clock tower at the Citidel. You can see how cloudy it was for the second two.

Welcome to Britain, Mate!

We made it safe and sound to Hethrow this morning, and I'm currently on a train, whipping through Northern England/Southern Scotland (not quite sure where I am). It's gorgeous here. The train's passed several quaint towns, with red brick buildings and intricate chimneys. Each cluster has an ancient gothic steeple piercing the sky, and lush fields with plenty of sheep. 

Later...

We're in Edinburgh, and it's somewhat rainy and windy, but still relatively warm compared to what I was expecting. Our appartment is on the third floor of a building with no elevator, but steep stairs. I'm tempted to count carrying my suitcase up as "going up 5 flights of stairs," but I'm not doing it as an alternative. It's up those stairs, or on the street. :) They're not that bad. They look sort of rustic and artistic- a pleasure to climb!

I got a quick tour from Uncle Gord of the Royal Mile, Princess Street, and Rose Street. For dinner we ate at a nice restaurant and I had a really interesting side to my fish- mashed peas. Apparently it's a Scottish thing. It has a bit of lemon flavoring, and was really good; I'd almost venture to say better than steamed peas.

If you are my facebook friend, check the pictures. I've decided I'm going to upload around 5 a day, unless there are waaaaay too many good ones to pick 5 from.